


Angel Fish Tank

by Angel170



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels as Merpeople, Creature Fic, Inspired by Art, M/M, Minor Character Death, fish hybrids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 19:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11065314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel170/pseuds/Angel170
Summary: Seraphs were the new species in exotic pets. Small; hand sized, half human, half fish people who could be taught to speak, read and do tricks. In a healthy home seraphs could thrive and live happy long lives. Samandriel and his tank mates did not have such a home, but they did have love and respect for each other, even if their owner forgot they existed. Thankfully the tank cleaners were nothing like their owners.**This is a funny, silly story that will hopefully put a smile on your face.**





	Angel Fish Tank

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nanika67](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanika67/gifts).



> This fic idea was pretty much forced on my by [Nanika67](https://nanika67.tumblr.com/) on tumblr who drew amazing and adorable works with the angels as fishes. At first she started off drawing them as actual fishes then they took on humanoid shape. The pieces were so cute the fic writer in me wanted to do a small drabble on them. Until I told her about it and she gave me longer fic ideas, timestamp ideas, and bombarded me with more artwork and a comic with her throwing more ideas at me, lol. 
> 
> Art masterpost can be found [here](https://mrsgabrieltrickster.tumblr.com/post/161322107082/art-post-for-angel-fish-tank)
> 
> and so many thanks go to the amazing and incredible the [thecuriouscrusader](http://thecuriouscrusader.tumblr.com/) who beta read for me and helped me to focus and get used to writing again.
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Samandriel swam around the side of the tank looking at his collection of shiny trinkets. He had them all stacked into a nice pile and had been going back and forth over whether he should bury them in the sand or try and squeeze them into his small cave. He scratched his pale belly and decided this could be better planned from the beach. With a smile he flicked his fins and swam up to the floating plastic island. None of the others seemed to be on yet so he had the area to himself. Using his arms he hoisted himself up and laid back, sighing in pleasure at the feeling of the heat lamp on his skin, while the tip of his fin; still submerged flicked along with the water. Samandriel enjoyed this quiet time, where he could be alone with his thoughts without any of his tank mates fighting and arguing. 

He knew better than to complain; at the petshop he had heard horror stories from the older fishes. About how the humans did experiments on them to see if they were like them or if they could die as easily as a regular fish. How some considered them delicacies the rarer that they were. Or even just torturing them and killing for fun or sport. Samandriel had been terrified when Chuck bought him, convinced he would be used for bait on a hook, or served on a platter for some wealthy elite. But, Chuck didn’t do any of that. Instead he had put Samandriel in a round bowl and placed him near the larger fish tank. The other tank fishes had come over to the glass to examine him and he had been frightened but stuck his chest out and tried to look as intimidating as possible. He knew how important it was to establish himself, lest a bigger fish decide to eat him. Instead the clown fish and marlin had laughed, uproariously, at him until he shrunk down on himself. The swordfish quieted them with a loud reprimand. It was then that Samandriel had learned who was truly at the top of the hierarchy of the big tank. Thankfully the swordfish approved of him and told Chuck so in a series of graceful turns and flips.

Samandriel had been nervous about being added to such a lively tank but now that he knew everyone and their personalities he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. There was Michael, the swordfish, who was the first fish Chuck had ever brought home. Michael was large compared to the others but he still was only a little longer than the length from Chuck’s finger tips until his wrist, and his human-half was nearly as handsome as his fish-half. He had deep green eyes like the shadowed part of the reef where the light just barely touched it, he had thick black hair that he tended to keep short. His tail was a stunning bluish silver that shone brightly whenever he swam near the surface. He was the defacto leader of the tank and the self appointed eldest brother, bringing them all together.

“To the ring of fire!”

Samandriel ducked his head down into the water and saw Lucifer pushing the volcano display over so it leaned facing the side of the tank. “What is he up to now?”

Lucifer, the marlin, was the second oldest and seemed to be the biggest trouble maker. Where Michael was order Lucifer was chaos. Constantly doing things that could be potentially harmful to himself and running Michael ragged as he chased after him. Like right now as Michael raced over screaming. 

“Luci stop it!” Michael called out to the blonde fish.

“No I will be better and free.” He positioned himself at the opening of the volcano and tried to pack himself in. It was obvious he was intending to use the force of the bubble eruption to send himself flying out of the tank. 

Michael struggled to pull him out as the others started to come over hearing the yelling. The timer reached it’s peak and Lucifer took off sailing through the air out of the tank. Luckily the commotion from the brothers was enough to alert their owner Chuck who already had the lid positioned over the tank and Lucifer smacked the glass hard before falling back into the water. 

Michael was immediately by his side, checking for injuries and reprimanding him. “No one leaves the family Luci.”

“You mean the tank, don’t you Michael?” Castiel asked.

“THAT’S WHAT I SAID!” Michael screamed back before he continued fussing over Lucifer and leading him back to their cave.

Samandriel knew they loved each other. They shared a cave and even if Michael had to drag Lucifer to sleep every night so that he wouldn’t try to escape he knew they had love. He had heard Lucifer the few times that he apologized and called Michael the best big brother they could ever have. Samandriel watched as Lucifer’s bright blue tail that matched his icy blue eyes drifted through the water as Michael swam them away to privacy.

“Can you believe him?” Gabriel, the clownfish, asked. “Things are actually finally going good and he’s still trying to escape. Now you know Michael is gonna be a giant pain in the fin keeping tabs on everyone.”

Balthazar, the goldfish, nodded along. “Yes and I’m sure this means our dear proprietor is just going to take the volcano away now. At this rate we won’t have any props left. A minimalist tank looks more cheap than chic everyone knows that.”

Gabriel was the third oldest in the tank and took after Lucifer but was more annoying and playful than potentially harmful. He had bright orange and black markings over his fins that matched his bright green and brown eyes beautifully. Samandriel didn’t know what the humans called that color but he found it mesmerizing. Gabe had grown his sandy blonde hair out until the ends curled at the back of his neck. He would often swim around Lucifer fluffing at his hair, showing off the length to his jealous older brother, but now he seemed to be pensive as he looked around the tank noting how many of their props have been removed.

“Well we would still have the diver if someone hadn’t decided to mate with it.” Castiel’s deep voice caused all three to turn towards him.

Balthazar rolled his eyes but his cheeks tinted ever so slightly letting them know he was embarrassed. “The bubbles felt marvelous and it’s not like there was any other way for me to get what I needed. I’m in a tank full of my brothers. A seraph has needs.”

Where Samandriel would rather refer to himself as a fish Balthazar for his smaller shape and weaker fish half liked to use the human’s term for their species. He suspected it helped Bal to feel more regal.

“Those needs could have easily been taken care of outside of the tank where the release wouldn’t float everywhere.” Castiel responded with a hard tone but Samandriel could see the small lift to the corner of his lips.

Castiel was easily Samandriel’s favorite brother. He was kind and supportive and knew so much about the tank and the things humans did. Castiel had been the first one to welcome him to the tank, show him around and help him pick out the right cave for himself. Castl was the fourth oldest and was a ram cichlid. He had a long flowing fin, light orange that looked nearly pink with glowing blue markings down his human back and fin. Castiel was actually caught in the wild and while most of his breed die in captivity Cas had admitted he liked living in the tank and not being out in the ocean. It made him calmer to not have to worry about bigger animals and he credited that for why he never got sick. Life was easier here even if it was far from perfect.

“Where’s the food? Chuck was just here you’d think he’d remember to at least feed us.” Balthazar pouted, bringing all of them to focus on the fact that they had not been fed in two days. “This is probably why Lulu tried to escape again, damn Chuck never seems to remember seraphs need food and clean water to live.”

Balthazar was older than Samandriel and before he had been brought in Bal had been considered the baby of the tank. His human half was taller than Samandriel’s and Gabe’s but his fish half was short and bright gold with white. Goldfish seraphs were not uncommon but usually tended to be females and were one of the weakest breeds, usually given to human children to learn how to care for a pet.

Samandriel looked around and realized Chuck was already back at his table typing away on the large box computer. “Looks like we won’t be fed today either.” He pointed towards their owner to the others and they all lowered their tails, floating down to the sand on the bottom of the tank.

“This is ridiculous, why have so many seraphs if you aren’t going to care for them?” Balthazar growled.

“Well at least it doesn’t look like he’s gonna be feeding Megadouche either.” Gabe waved to the round bowl on the table next to Chuck. A yellow tailed white pufferfish was pressed against the bowl looking at the computer screen.

“Doesn’t seem like he cares very much,” Samandriel responded. 

Metatron had lived in the tank before Samandriel was added and had not gotten along with the others. But, apparently something happened between him and Castiel that caused the cichlid to attack him and nearly kill him. It was only due to the tank cleaner who had been visiting that day that Metatron was even still alive. Samandriel had asked before what had happened that made Cas snap like that, worried that he would cross whatever invisible line and receive the same treatment, but no one would ever say. Cas assured him that he was safe and that the situation was a one time thing.

“Hopefully the cleaner will come soon, he usually feeds us.” Samandriel said as he thought of the gruff human who Chuck paid to clean the tank. Apparently he was only supposed to come once a month but when he saw how irresponsible Chuck was he decided to stop by more frequently. It helped that he also lived in the building.

“I haven’t seen John lately, I hope he comes soon. I have some snacks hidden in my cave but that’s not enough to keep any of us fed for long.” Gabriel offered.

“You would actually share your snacks with us?” Balt asked, his brow raised in question.

“Well I mean if you’re all gonna starve, then yeah but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Gabe responded with a smile.

Castiel shook his head, a stream of bubbles escaping his pale pink lips. “We need to focus and come up with a plan. There has to be some way to get Chuck’s attention and show him we need to be fed.”

They swam to the side of the tank facing Chuck, all of them smacking their hands and fins against the glass trying to get his attention. The tank’s glass was so thick that the sound was muted and Chuck couldn’t hear over the sound of his typing. They then tried to swim to the top of the tank and lift up the lid but weren’t nearly strong enough. Michael and Lucifer stayed gone in their shared cave and the others had no choice but to stop and conserve their energy. Everyone hoped the next day would find them with food in the tank.

****

Dean grumbled as he knocked on the door again. He knew the guy was home he could hear him walking around. He cursed himself for not coming sooner, if he had known there were seraphs in the building he would have checked on them. Then again if their father actually added this guy Chuck to the list of clients then he and Sam would have known to come here.

“Then again clients pay for your services; this guy is just a deadbeat.” Dean thought to himself as he banged on the door again.

John owned and ran his own tank building company. When the seraphs became popular he and Dean had went for training to learn all they could about the new species; a half humanoid, half fish that could fit in the palm of their hand. John had even gotten his boys a half whale seraph, the length of his hand to forearm, to take care of named Joshua. Joshua had been their favorite pet and a dear friend until he passed away from old age. 

Dean banged on the door and yelled through the wood “I know you’re in there Chuck. Open the damn door or I’ll break it down!” His fists were held so tight that his nails left crescent shaped marks in his palm. Before Dean could make good on his threat the door opened to a haggard and twitchy little man in a musty robe.

“Who are you?” The man who Dean assumed was Chuck asked as he let out a breath that smelled of whiskey.

“Dean Winchester, I’m here to check the seraphs.” Not feeling he owed Chuck anymore than that and still angry he used his large shoulder to force his way in, pushing the smaller man behind the door.

The apartment was in complete disarray. There was empty trays of tv dinners stacked on the couch and tables. The curtains were drawn and the only light was coming from an old desktop that looked like it still used floppy disks. If this is what he used to work on it was no wonder he had no money to pay John’s fees.

“John’s usually the one who comes to clean the tank, and he was just here a little while ago” Chuck announced as he looked around nervously. It was putting Dean on edge the way the man’s eyes wouldn’t stay still, like they should be expecting someone to pop up and attack them at any moment.

Dean gave him a confused look “my dad was in a car accident and has been in the hospital for a month. The only reason we knew to come here was cause he woke up and said to come save the seraphs. Said you probably had them near death with lack of food or cleaning.”

“A month? It’s been a month?” Chuck shook himself before rushing over to the large tank in the corner. He gasped as he couldn’t see into the tank, the light from the lid that he usually left on was off and they couldn’t see the seraphs in the dark. “Oh no, oh no.”

“Move.” Dean pushed him out the way and turned on a flashlight that he pulled from the large duffel bag he had. The seraphs were all sitting on a floating plastic beach, huddled together for warmth. “Shit, Chuck I need the lights on now. Open the damn curtains or something I gotta get the heat back on in the tank.”

Chuck ran to open the curtains and coughed at the invading dust but Dean ignored him as he hurriedly checked the tank. He tried to comfort the seraphs as they clicked and chattered at him. 

“Shhhh, it’s okay little fellas. This is a Winchester built tank, I’ll figure out what’s wrong and get you guys back to being comfortable.” 

Checking behind the tank he found everything was plugged in fine. He barely noticed when Chuck reached around him flicking a light switch on. All the lights in the living room turned on and the tank came to life.

“Are you kidding me?” Dean whirled on him, his large body loomed over the stuttering man. “You switched off the tank! For how long huh? How long have these guys gone without heat, or oxygen? Probably haven’t had any damn food either.”

“I...I didn’t, I must have hit it by accident. I didn’t even realize…. I’m sorry.” Chuck babbled.

“Save it.” Dean growled before he turned back to the tank. Judging by the seraphs and their coloring it must not have been too long without the heat from the lamps but the fact that they were all sitting on the floating beach proved they knew the water had no oxygen. 

“It’s okay little guys, I’m gonna clean out your tank okay?” He watched as they nodded but only clicked and made noises in response. Chuck hadn’t taught any of them to speak, he probably didn’t even speak to them often either.

He pulled out a plastic bin and filled it with water before picking up the seraphs and placing them inside so they could wet their fins. He gave the blue swordfish who was checking everyone over the bag of food. It was obvious he was the one in charge and Dean knew that he should always refer to the tank leader especially when the tank had been in jeopardy. 

“Give everyone one piece to start, don’t let them eat too fast or they’ll get sick.” The swordfish nodded and handed out the food, saving himself for last. At least the tank had a good fish leader, even if the human owner was shit.

It took Dean no time at all to drain, clean and refill the tank. He noticed they didn’t have any exercise equipment and very little toys or props in the tank. He tried to not blame himself, but he couldn’t help it. He should have talked to his father more, learned about Chuck and these seraphs. Maybe he could have gotten here sooner. Once the tank was full he checked on the seraphs again. They were chattering excitedly and eating their food. None looked too malnourished so either Chuck did feed them or they had food hidden in the tank. They probably lived off of that before the tank was shut off and the oxygen and filtration system shut down. He picked up the seraphs one by one starting with leader.

“You did a good job keeping everyone safe. You’re a good leader and a great big brother.” The swordfish puffed out his chest and Dean couldn’t help but smile. He hoped this helped keep the little guy safe, some tanks were highly political and would turn on their previous leader even if problems were caused by human negligence. 

The marlin gave him trouble not wanting to go back but the swordfish grabbed him and ducked underwater. The last fish was a dark haired ram cichlid and he refused to let Dean go, instead he rubbed his face against Dean’s fingers and held his thumb tightly in his arms. 

“Hey little guy, I’m gonna need my hand back.” The seraph shook his head and held on tightly making Dean chuckle at the affectionate display. “What’s your name little fella?”

“That one’s Castiel.” Chuck answered

Dean gave him a dirty look before smiling back at Cas. “well at least you know their names.”

“I do care about them, I just get lost in my stories sometimes.” Chuck saw the look on Dean’s face and knew he was like his father, they didn’t take excuses. “Castiel, is a wild save but he’s done well in the tank. Michael is the swordfish and the tank leader, Lucifer is the marlin, Balthazar is the goldfish, and Gabriel is the clownfish. Your father usually gives him a few pieces of seraph candy. And Samandriel there is the platy.” Chuck said pointing them all out.

“I’ll give Gabe his snacks and I’m gonna leave a bag of feed on the lid for Michael to give out.” Dean said with his hand still underwater letting Castiel nuzzle his thumb. “I’ll be back at the end of next week and I don’t want to see the tank off again, you got me Chucky?”

The look Dean gave him had Chuck gulping loudly knowing if he put his fish in danger again he wouldn’t survive either. When he nodded Dean pulled Cas free, making sure to rub the top of his head so he knew Dean wasn’t abandoning him and gave Gabe some snacks and put a feed bag on the plastic beach. As he left he made sure to warn Chuck once more and remind him to open up when he knocks or he’ll break the door down.

*******

Samandriel swam out of his cave, his eyes instantly caught on to Castiel swimming back and forth at the part of the tank that faced the front door. Castiel was obviously smitten with Dean and had been devastated when he left. Samandriel, Balthazar and Gabriel tried to keep him company often and get his mind away from the green eyed human. Sometimes it worked long enough to feed the cichlid, sometimes it didn’t. Looking around he didn’t see the others so he decided to visit Cas on his own. Flipping his fins he stopped in the older fish’s path causing them to bump into each other. 

“Sorry Samandriel, I didn’t see you there.” Castiel said as they righted themselves. 

“It’s alright, how are you today Cas?”

Castiel’s eyes moved to the door as he floated in place, “I’m well, I ate my serving of food and now I’m…. exercising.”

Samandriel knew even without how Cas’ shoulders shifted that the other fish was lying. “Dean will be back Cas.”

“I know, I just-” Cas huffed causing a stream of bubbles to float out of his mouth, “I wish I had access to the sea. Dean is… amazing and I wish to court him properly. But, for that I will need items to gift to him. Which I can’t do trapped in this glass cage, with nothing here save for plastic reef plants and Gabriel’s candy stash.” He turned back to Samandriel, a blush rose from his cheeks towards the tips of his ears.

“I’m sure anything you give him will be met with happiness Cas. Dean seems like a really good guy and I’m sure he’d be happy just getting another hug from you.” Samandriel giggled as Cas’ eyes widened at his response. “What? Did you expect me to judge? To tell you nothing could ever happen?” He shrugged “He’s a human, you’re a seraph. You know you can’t mate, can’t breed or do… anything really. But, not all mates have to do that some can just... enjoy each other’s company. Be friends, and I think Dean would make a very good friend. If nothing else at least he won’t let us starve.”

Castiel pulled him into his arms and hugged him tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of Samandriel’s head, he murmured. “Sometimes I forget that for someone so young you are very wise. Thank you for not passing judgment.”

“You’re my brother, I just want you happy. If Dean makes you happy then I want you to have that. Plus it could be worse… you could want Lucifer.” A shiver went through them both and they grimaced before sharing a laugh.

The rest of the day went by quietly, Michael handed out the food rations and Lucifer tried to escape after eating. Balthazar and Gabriel played chase and got everyone including Cas to play along. Even though Michael was trying to catch Gabriel to throttle him for biting his fin they had him playing too. In the end it was nice and everyone had a good laugh. The sound of a knock on the door was met with Castiel throwing himself towards the glass, pressing himself against it as though he could phase through and open the door himself.

“Coming.” Chuck got up from his chair and opened the door assuming it was Dean.

The seraphs watched as a man even taller than Dean and John entered the small apartment. His hair was a long chestnut brown that framed his face. He wore a dark orange open flannel shirt with a tight red shirt underneath that showed off a wide strong chest. 

“Who is that fine hunk of man meat?” Gabriel asked as he rushed to the tank glass.

“I don’t know but I call dibs” Lucifer responded as he pressed himself against the glass, mimicking the clownfish.

The fish all listened in rapt attention as Chuck and the human spoke. “I’m Sam Winchester, I’m John’s middle son. Dean told me about your seraphs and I’m here to check them over.”

“What do you mean?” Chuck asked.

“Well, I’m trained in seraph biology and I’ve read up a lot on them. I’m just going to give them a quick non-invasive physical and make sure there isn’t damage from before.”

“His voice is sexy.” Gabriel nearly swooned.

“His everything is sexy, I hope he checks me first. I want those hands all over me.” Lucifer responded with a hungry grin.

“No one is having human hands all over them, especially you Luci.” Michael called out before reaching his brother and trying to pull him away from the glass.

Sam was standing over the tank now and lifting the lid. 

“Hey little fellas, I’m Sam. Don’t worry I just want to make sure you’re all okay.” He reached into the tank and Lucifer and Gabriel both shoved each other to get into his hand, but Michael held Lucifer back giving Gabriel the lead he needed to make it there first. “Hey there, Gabe. Dean told me you like snacks. I got some nice seraph pops here for you but I need you to stop squirming okay?”

Gabriel laid back, posing seductively in Sam’s palm causing the large man to laugh as he checked him over. As promised he gave Gabe some candy and placed him gently back in the water before grabbing the next seraph.

“Check him out Samandriel, have you ever seen such a perfect male specimen?” Gabe asked as he watched Sam checking over a pouting Cas.

“He has very friendly eyes.” Samandriel responded with a shrug, Sam and Dean both seemed nice, as had John, but he just didn’t view them the way his tank mates apparently did.

“Personally I’d rather they send over a female. Is it too much to ask to have some lovely lady come in and give a rub?” Balthazar pouted.

“They aren’t coming here to pleasure us Bal, it’s to make sure of our health and safety.” Castiel responded before he swam back to the glass staring forlornly at the front door.

Sam reached in to grab Lucifer but Michael pulled him away and spat a stream of water, soaking Sam’s shirt. “Hey!”

Sam shook his head and tried to reach for Michael but he refused to let the human touch him or Lucifer.

“Michael, I need to check you both okay? I’m not going to do anything but check you both over. You can even lay on the beach if it makes you feel better?”

Michael thought it over for a moment before he pulled a cursing Lucifer up to the plastic beach. Samandriel turned away going back to Castiel and wrapping his arms around the back of his brother’s waist. “Dean will be back soon Cas.”

“I know, I just wish he didn’t have to leave.”

“Chuck is our owner, but it’s obvious that the Winchester family cares. This is the third one who has come to look after us.”

Sam’s face appeared in front of them and they both jumped away in fright. The human laughed but his eyes were kind so neither fish felt like he was laughing at them. “You two doing alright?”

Castiel let himself sink to the bottom of the tank and turned his back to Sam. The human frowned and looked at Samandriel. He knew Sam wouldn’t understand if he tried to speak so he pointed at the door.

“Cas wants to go for a walk?” Sam asked, his face scrunched up in confusion as though he was trying to picture how to walk a seraph.

Samandriel sighed, a stream of bubbles escaping as he shook his head no. “I’m sorry little guy, I don’t understand. Maybe Dean can help when he comes over on Friday.”

Samandriel started flipping and chirping as loudly as he could, even dashing up to the top of the tank to wave and nod excitedly and point back down to Cas.

“Wait, Dean?” Sam smiled at the platy’s excitement. “Oh, Cas misses Dean? Okay, that’s adorable.” He reached over and petted Samandriel’s head with his index finger. “I’ll tell Dean to come by sooner. Ya hear that Cas? Your boyfriend will be back before you know it.” With a chuckle Sam got his bag and bid farewell to the tank and to Chuck.

“Do you think he meant it?” Castiel asked, his voice was even but his eyes were wide with excitement.

“About Dean coming by sooner? Yeah, I trust Sam and I told you Dean would keep to his word.” Samandriel responded.

“No, about Dean being my boyfriend. I need to figure out how to court him properly.” Without waiting for a response Castiel turned and shot towards his cave.

“I don’t see that relationship working out but if it does we can have a double wedding.” Gabriel popped up, wrapping his arm around Samandriel’s shoulder.

“Lucifer seems to be taken with Sam too Gabe.” Balthazar appeared out of nowhere.

“Yeah well he already has Mikey. No need to be so greedy, besides Sam and I had a moment.” Gabriel wiggled his brows and Samandriel ducked down to get away from him. He wasn’t sure where the conversation was going but he knew he wanted no part of it.

****

Dean knocked on the door and was surprised to have Chuck open it right away. 

“Good morning Dean.”

“It’s four in the afternoon, but yeah, morning.” He walked in and headed straight for the tank. The ram cichlid was going crazy doing twirls and flips, showing off it’s fin. “Hey Cas, good to see you too buddy.”

His eyes scanned the tank and all the other seraphs came out but they all stayed well behind Cas. he wasn’t sure what that was about since he was sure Michael was still the tank’s leader. Lucifer and Gabriel didn’t look thrilled to see him but he knew that would change when they saw his surprise. 

“I got you all something.” Reaching into his bag he pulled out a large ship display. “This is for all of you to share. And, I also got you guys this.” He reached back into the bag and pulled out small exercise equipment, some of which had suction cups attached. “So now everyone can work out and be happier.”

Dean chuckled as Castiel spun around in happiness and everyone swam around the props he gently placed in the water. He tried to add a mermaid statue but Michael and Gabriel rushed to put it up on the beach as Balthazar chirped angrily behind them. Castiel swam to the top of the tank and waved to Dean.

“Hey Cas, you like your new toys?” Reaching over he let Castiel take his hand and nuzzle his finger. 

Sam had already made jokes about Dean having the little seraph as his boyfriend but he didn’t mind. He liked that Cas was affectionate and it wasn’t like anything would happen. So he allowed Cas to have his hand and ignored the little press of lips from the seraph as he used his free hand to check the temperature of the water.

“Um, Dean?” Dean jumped completely forgetting about the tank’s actual owner.

“Yeah?” He knew he probably shouldn’t take such a harsh tone with a customer but seeing as how he really didn’t like the guy or how he treated the fish he didn’t care.

“I was thinking, I’m not really cut out to be a father.” Chuck rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes moving around the room unable to meet Dean’s gaze.

“What was your first clue?”

“Your father threatening to cut me up and sell me to the meat market for one, but…I messed up, badly and I think it would be best if the other seraphs went with someone who could care for them properly.”

Dean looked back at the tank counting each one, making sure he didn’t miss any. The one thing his mind stuck on was “other seraphs”, he was missing something. He looked up and around the room but there were no other tanks. 

“What do you mean by other seraphs? You got more?” The look on Chuck’s face made his heart drop. “Chuck?”

“There was one more but uh,” he looked back into the small kitchen were a mildew covered bowl sat on the counter.

“What the fuck Chuck!” Dean took his hand out of the tank, ignoring the cries from Cas as he gripped Chuck’s shirt lifting him in the air. “A fucking bowl? A bowl? What the fuck was in the bowl Chuck.”

“A blow fish.”

Dean dropped him and ran his dry hand down his face. Bowls didn’t have any systems rigged up, no running water to create oxygen under the water, no filter to protect from bacteria and the apartment had no sunlight to help fight algae growth. 

“Was the blowfish here when I first came by?” Dean asked resigned to know that he messed up. He should have asked his father how many fishes, he should have demanded Chuck show him every living creature in the shoebox he called a home. In Dean’s mind he was just as responsible as Chuck because he knew the man was useless and didn't do more.

“Yeah, Sam too but… to be honest I’m not sure when he died. I just noticed the weird smell this morning. I was actually on my way to your apartment to find out how to dispose of him. You know, properly.” 

Dean really wanted to hit him, to punch him so hard his jaw shattered, to make him feel whatever the poor blowfish felt as he died from neglect. But, he knew he’d just go to jail and even if the cops arrested Chuck Kansas’ living vertebrate law only carried a one grand fine or a year in prison and most people got off with a minimum fine. Now if Dean hit him like he wanted to he could easily be looking at 5 years behind bars, especially since it wouldn’t even be his first offense. 

“I feel really bad about this Dean honest.” Chuck had the decency to look ashamed as he wrung his hands, still not looking Dean in the eyes.

“You are gonna take the blowfish and you are going to give him a proper burial in a proper pet cemetery. While you’re gone I’m taking everyone out of this tank and taking them home. I’m also gonna have Sam add you to the animal abuse list and you are never gonna even attempt to get another pet you got that?” When the other man nodded Dean continued. “What you did was torture, and while others might just look at them like some pet or a creature who doesn’t matter I want you to remember this was a living, breathing being that relied on you and you murdered him. Now get the fuck out of here before I remember why assault is illegal.”

Once Chuck left Dean started moving the props back to his bag. He had assumed the seraphs would have put up a fight about losing their toys. But instead everyone seemed to be packing up. Even though Chuck never taught them how to speak they still understood enough to know they were moving and apparently approved. 

*** 

Samandriel swam around the new larger tank he and his family were moved to. Living with the Winchesters had been a dream. Lucifer wasn’t trying to escape anymore because they always had food and if the humans saw him wanting to leave the tank they would move him to a mobile tank. Michael still chased after him, always afraid he would lose his younger brother but Lucifer always came back once he was tired. Castiel was happier than Samandriel had ever seen him. He stayed in the tank during the day but at night he would go to a tank in Dean’s room so he could watch his human sleep and have the green-eyed man’s soft snores lull him to sleep. Gabriel did the same with Sam except he would throw himself from the tank and now Sam took him to his room at night for fear of Gabriel’s antics. Gabe was happy though because while he may have forced Sam’s hand with the room sharing the tall man did enjoying spending time with the clownfish and trying to teach him to speak. Balthazar surprisingly got along best with John and would actually sit near the man when he came to read in the living room. John may be gruff and pretend otherwise but Samandriel knew he enjoyed the company because he now read everything out loud for the goldfish to hear. Samandriel was just happy to be in a loving and safe home without having to live in fear of the tank dying.

“Hey, I’m home.” Samandriel rushed to the top of the tank and waved to the youngest Winchester as he came closer. “Hey Dri.” Adam grinned and rubbed the top of his head with a finger.

Adam lived with his mother but would come and spend the weekends with his father and brothers. Samandriel was smitten with the young human, thankfully everyone else was too busy with their own lives to notice and tease him.

“Hi.” he spoke back, grinning so wide his cheeks hurt.   
  
“That’s awesome Dri, I can hear you so clearly now. You think you might be ready to try something else?” Adam asked as he reached into his backpack, his blue eyes shining with mischief. 

Samandriel nodded excitedly as Adam pulled out a small red and white cap. He placed it on Samandriel’s head and the seraph nearly swooned at the human gifting him with something. 

“What do you say Dri?”

“Tank roo.”

Adam chuckled and ran a finger down the seraphs back. “Close enough, and you’re welcome. Hey wanna watch a movie with me?”

Samandriel nodded and waited for Adam to come back with the temporary tank. Life may not have started out perfectly for Samandriel and his tank mates but he was glad for everything that happened to bring them to this happier and more loving life.

**Author's Note:**

> Well that's all for now. I may add timestamps later but for now I'm done.  
> For the fight between Metatron and Cas it was actually because Metadouche was trying to use Cas to overthrow Michael and help Metatron take over the tank. Metatron really messed with Cas' head especially since Cas had just come from the ocean and didn't know about tank life. Metatron thought that he was gullible and easy to control and Cas proved that was not the case. No one likes to talk about what happened because they feel bad that Cas was put into such a position and had to fight someone when tank life was supposed to be safer than the ocean, And. because it still really hurts Michael to think that someone he watched over wanted him gone. Which is why he goes a little overboard sometimes with protecting everyone. He's just a fishy doing his best.
> 
> If anyone wants to talk to me or see some of my other work that I haven't or maybe won't be posting to AO3 (hint the reader inserts) [my tumblr](http://mrsgabrieltrickster.tumblr.com)
> 
>  
> 
> *** Edit I recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and haven't been able to write due to exhaustion and breastfeeding lol I haven't given up my writing and in fact have new ideas for more works and sequels for some just be patient and I'll be back as soon as I can. Until then I see all the kudos and will respond to all comments.


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